Their story, in their words…
Our adventure started at 6am. We met and began to cycle towards London Paddington, armed with feelings of excitement for the journey ahead, but also somewhat in disbelief about the task we had ahead of us, and the fact that we were cycling through London so early in the day. Our first challenge hit us sooner than we thought- our original route of going in the direction of St James’ Park had to be quickly scrapped when we realised the entire area was closed off for an event. The next half hour was spent cycling a different route, guided only by our intuition, until we got to the station with only minutes to spare. Thanks to the detour, we cut it much closer than we anticipated, but we had made it.
The train journey went smoothly. Hanging our bikes up inside of the storage area felt like a jigsaw puzzle, especially with all of the baggage strapped to them, but the rest of the journey was spent eating our breakfast, and looking forward to the day of cycling ahead of us.
When we arrived in Bristol, we decided to spend an hour cycling around the city before setting off. We all loved the waterways that cut through the city, and enjoyed the cycle along the river down towards the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the first of the Brunel landmarks. The route also passed by a museum dedicated to Brunel, much like the one we were aiming to reach in Rotherhithe at the end of the trip, three days later. We then set into the first stint of the journey, a 15-mile cruise towards Bath. The cycle way was brilliant, following a now disused railway line, which went past still-standing, old stations, and through massive tunnels, which were completely dark as we cycled through them, illuminated only by our lights. This first section of the cycle was spent trying to get used to cycling with such a weight across the back of our bikes, and laughing when we saw how low Adam’s seat was- it looked almost as if he was reclining in an arm chair (we quickly fixed it with the use of an Allen key) Along this route, we saw a steam powered train, and Nico and I entertained themselves by racing along the path.
Bath was a lovely city, Nico was impressed by the architecture, with many of the buildings being made from a distinctive yellow brick. From then on, the journey joined the canal. The smooth tarmac that we were cycling on before gave way to gravel paths, and the old stations were replaced with canal boats and locks. We stayed along this river for much of the remainder of the day. Often, the willingness to chat by strangers surprised us, lots of people asked where we were journeying to, a level of friendliness we aren’t accustomed to living in the capital. As we neared the overnight halt, we reached Caen Hill Locks- an impressive display of 15 or so locks, all in a line. At the foot of the hill, we stopped to take some photos, but under the weight of my bike, I fell to the side of the path and into the grass verge. I was unharmed, but was about half a metre from the edge of the water- a situation that we laughed off, made even funnier by a passer-by exclaiming “he almost knew what a lock was like!”
Nico proceeded to fly up the hill, with myself and Adam taking up the rear.
We reached Devizes, a welcomed sight after a long day of cycling, as it offered us an opportunity for a much-needed dinner, and marked us being a couple of kilometres out from the campsite. The last little stretch of the day was incredibly beautiful, with us cycling through picturesque fields as the glow of the evening sun made the whole landscape golden. For the last mile, we ended up re-joining the canal, but the path running alongside it was nothing like the one we had been on prior in the day- it was narrow, bumpy and overgrown. The going was slow, and we were growing tired, but we knew the campsite was within reach.
The campsite was situated directly on the river. It was busier than expected, with people having campfires, playing games and laughing on the grass. We were all knackered, so found a spot to pitch our tents, locked the bikes up behind them, and made use of the much-nicer-than-expected campsite showers.
The sleep was good, but definitely something we had to get used to. The floor was a little hard, but our fatigue from the day made that go almost unnoticed.
We awoke in the morning to see Adam fully dressed and ready, chatting to our campsite neighbour, and saying hello to his dog. We got ourselves ready and enjoyed a campsite breakfast of breakfast rolls, and got ready to hit the road. The day would go onto being compromised of mainly road cycling, but on very quiet, country roads- we rarely saw a car.
The road roughly followed the canal we journeyed on the previous day, as well as the Great Western Railway, the very railway we travelled on at the start of our adventure, and one that was in part the brainchild of Brunel. It was an incredible route, and it was so enjoyable cycling along the twisting road, through traditional-looking towns, all adorned with Union Jacks marking the Jubilee. We soon found out more about the railway and canal upon reaching the historical site of Crofton pumping station, a still-running, coal-powered pumping station used to maintain the flow of water down the canal. A man working there told us that the canal was entirely man-made, an incredible feat which was soon made obsolete a few years after completion by the introduction of the steam train. GWR bought the land, and ran a railway alongside it, outcompeting the use of barges.
The remainder of the day was spent searching for the chain of “cycleway 4” signs which guided our travels, all the way into Newbury. We stopped here for a meal, and cycled a further 30 minutes to our campsite at Bishop’s Green Farm. On the way, we passed a site known as RAF Greenham common. It’s a former Royal Air Force station, one that contained runways used by the United States Airforce, and previously contained nuclear weapons during the Cold War. It is now a public parkland. As we cycled through, we were amazed by the obvious history of the place, and were amused by the cows that strolled past the old nuclear hangers as we cycled by.
The campsite for the night was brilliant. It was much quieter than the last, and the owner was incredibly kind, showing great interest in our journey, and offering us tea and blankets.
The following morning, we were up bright and early. We were keen to hit the road, so we could make good progress to our end goal. The majority of the day was spent back on the canal, but the pathway became much more developed as we went on. More and more buildings and industries lined the banks, and the pathways became much more up kept the closer we edged towards London.
Here, we had our first major bike issue of the trip- a double puncture on Nico’s bike. We were running along a rough gravel path, and the weight of the camping equipment over Nico’s thin road tyres must’ve been too much. This was definitely a learning curve, as the inner tubes offered a bit of resistance to being changed. However, we managed to fit the new set, and continued onward.
We stopped for our lunch break in Reading, the first major city we had seen in a few days. From there, the cycle path winded through fields, parting way with the waterways for the final time. We ventured up a large hill, easily the largest incline of the journey. This was a massive test of our physical and mental ability, but the summit offered us the opportunity to rest our legs as we coasted down the other side.
As we drew near to Slough, the path run alongside roads- it definitely wasn’t the most scenic section, but it marked us being in an arm’s reach of our final goal. But then, it took a turn for the worst. Rain lashed down, and the path quickly became very slippery. Mud flicked up from the ground, and our collective mood dropped. This was made even worse, as my bike brought along the third puncture of the day. The repair job wasn’t helped by the mud, and the insistent duck quacking in the adjacent lake seemed like they were mocking us. However, this issue was quickly resolved, and we were back on our way.
We soon rolled into Slough, and reached the train station to board our train back to Paddington. We reflected on the journey, and were proud of the achievement we had made. There were definitely challenges along the way, but the route was better than we could ever had hoped for, and it was definitely an adventure to remember.
